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iHeartRadio - "Guaranteed Human."

As I said, iHeart has the trademark for radio. Somebody has registered the domain "guaranteedhuman.com." It doesn't appear to be iHeart. But they use the "tm" on the site.


They're selling merch!
 
I can tell you haven't spent a boatload of time designing and writing computer software, or debugging logic problems, or chasing down coding bugs or typos.

Not to mention security vulnerabilities, the likelihood of which increases as complexity increases.

Bug hunting is not a priority for these companies. They pay a lot of lip service to privacy and security concerns when it's convenient for them to do so. Otherwise, it's ship, ship, ship.
People who have are a lot less sanguine about what our AI future holds than you seem to be.

No kidding.
 
I find it amusing how those on the political right are pushing for huge levels of population increase at a time when humans are being replaced by AI. More humans doing what? Running the AI? The AI will be running itself. Robots will be building other robots. What do we need people for?🤣🤣🤣
The entire world now runs on systems that use working age persons to support the elderly and the young. If population in the working age declines, there will be under-funding for both schools and old folks. And there is a limit on how much the workforce can be taxed to support the other two groups.

Germany is the first of the major industrial nations to feel the impact of fewer working age people, and their effort to supplant a low birth rate with culturally different immigrants is creating huge sociopolitical issues.
 
The entire world now runs on systems that use working age persons to support the elderly and the young. If population in the working age declines, there will be under-funding for both schools and old folks. And there is a limit on how much the workforce can be taxed to support the other two groups.

Germany is the first of the major industrial nations to feel the impact of fewer working age people, and their effort to supplant a low birth rate with culturally different immigrants is creating huge sociopolitical issues.

Japan is absolutely in the same boat as Germany, AND they are not very accepting (generally speaking) of immigrants. It's a deadly combo for a culture that may very well have to adapt or die.

My son is American and daughter-in-law is Japanese. They looked hard at both cultures when deciding where to settle down this year, and chose the US. Their thinking was that the current systemic issues in the US were largely cyclical in nature, whereas the issues in Japan resemble a never-ending downward spiral. Since they are in their early 30s, with assumably 50+ more years on this rock, to them it seemed a pretty easy decision.

Italy is apparently also having dificulties refilling their work force via new births. Which is absolutely WILD for a Catholic country, but sign o' the times.
 
Nice Buggles reference there.

Some Denver top-of-hour IDs from today. This is my form of public service. Maybe.

KOA (8:01 am):

KHOW (9 am):

KDFD (10 am):

KBCO (10:03 am):

KTCL (10:13 am, apparently not "guaranteed human"):
Meanwhile our local (smaller market) Saga-owned classic rock station has just gone full AI for the "voice" of the station for TOH, bumpers and liners. This voice was out of market in the past, but at least was a human- until now. Sounds a bit off to me, but I suspect the average listener will not notice.
 
The entire world now runs on systems that use working age persons to support the elderly and the young. If population in the working age declines, there will be under-funding for both schools and old folks.
If birthrates continue to decline there will be less demand on schools and daycare, and the money formerly spent on those can be allocated elsewhere.

As far as the “old folks” we should just accept we are in a “pig in the python” situation that will resolve itself over the next 20 to 25 years or so, when most of the Boomers will be gone. Remember Generation X is also known as the “Baby Bust” so less demand on elderly care for them.

Having small families, or no children at all, means that adults can save and invest much more of their money in anticipation of retirement and potential end of life care, instead of spending huge amounts of money raising a large number of children.

Remember that any large increase in the birthrate means far more children who will eventually bloat the workforce (pushing down wages) and all of whom will someday be large numbers of old people. Then there will be demands for even more births to create an even larger support system for the elderly. You now have a upward birthrate spiral that is likely not sustainable.
And there is a limit on how much the workforce can be taxed to support the other two groups.
Tax the robots. Tax AI. They are supposedly making money without the cost of human labor. Why should taxes only be paid by humans?

Remember our own Supreme Court has ruled that a corporation is a person. Why can’t robots and AI have that same status, and therefore the same responsibilities to support the larger society?
Germany is the first of the major industrial nations to feel the impact of fewer working age people, and their effort to supplant a low birth rate with culturally different immigrants is creating huge sociopolitical issues.
With robots and AI replacing the workforce, we will need fewer humans. And remember all those immigrants will someday be old people with the resultant needs.

Efforts to increase birthrates are going to fail. People can’t afford large families, and most don’t have the emotional bandwidth to deal with six, eight, ten, twelve or more kids. People should have the option to remain childfree without any social stigma. Pushing women to become baby factories is what fascist societies do. I hope that is not the future.

All this comes down to the following question: Can we have infinite growth in a finite world?
 
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I believe corporations should start paying an AI tax The revenue from this tax would go towards retraining the employees that have been let go as a result of AI, and to train them at no cost into new careers. The companies benefiting the most from AI should be required to cover the cost of the financial burden placed on humans.
 
Why should taxes only be paid by humans?

Because humans receive government services. Humans have social security numbers. Humans have representation. No taxation without representation.
Remember our own Supreme Court has ruled that a corporation is a person. Why can’t robots and AI have that same status, and therefore the same responsibilities to support the larger society?

That was a very limited ruling, having to do with PACs. Why not tax cars or washing machines?

I believe corporations should start paying an AI tax The revenue from this tax would go towards retraining the employees that have been let go as a result of AI, and to train them at no cost into new careers. The companies benefiting the most from AI should be required to cover the cost of the financial burden placed on humans.

Any taxes you put on companies simply get passed down to consumers. So all you're doing is guaranteeing you will pay more for everything you buy.
 
As I said, iHeart has the trademark for radio. Somebody has registered the domain "guaranteedhuman.com." It doesn't appear to be iHeart. But they use the "tm" on the site.


They're selling merch!

Yeah, this isn't iHeart. But this company, based in Vero Beach, FL has also applied for a trademark on "Guaranteed Human," several months before iHeart's application. The mark application is pending with the USPTO.
 
As far as the “old folks” we should just accept we are in a “pig in the python” situation that will resolve itself over the next 20 to 25 years or so, when most of the Boomers will be gone. Remember Generation X is also known as the “Baby Bust” so less demand on elderly care for them.


While birthrates for GenX lagged those of the Baby Boom (65 million to 76 million for the Boomers), the Boomer die-off has been going on for a while now. The oldest Boomers turn 80 next year. A lot of us (10 million) are already gone, and the gap is narrowing quickly.

And the kids we Boomers made---the Millennials---is a group almost as big as the Boomers (74 million vs 76). The oldest of those turn 45 next year. Gen Z (the oldest of whom were born to the youngest of the Boomers) isn't much smaller than the Millennials---they're the second-largest age group. Boomers are third.

Because not all of a generation places demand on the care system at once (there are still three-plus years of Boomers that haven't hit Medicare eligibility yet), the number of elderly needing care is likely to stay fairly flat or possibly increase, if GenXers had healthier habits, better medical care or new treatments and live longer.


The stats as of last year for the United States:


Millennials (1981-1996, so next year they'll be 30-45 years old): 74.2 million (21.8%)

Gen Z (1997-2012, so next year 14-29): 70.8 million (20.8%)

Boomers (1946-1964, so next year 62-80): 66.9 million (19.7%)

Gen X (1965-1980, so next year 46-61): 65.6 million (19.3%)

Silent (1928-1945, so next year 81-98): 15.1 million (4.4%)
 
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Still guaranteed a voicetrack from another market (at least on a large chunk of iHeart's stations)...
 


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